Maggie’s New Mantra

Posted on Wednesday, May 06, 2020

I was recently introduced to author/activist Glennon Doyle and her book Untamed. I instantly became a fan of her - she's real, she's inspiring, she's funny, and thought-provoking on so many levels. But one theme that she talks about in the book that I've been coming back to for a few days is, "We can do hard things." Something I think we can all use a reminder of - because it's so easy to forget how strong and capable we are. But recently on her Instagram account (I told you I'm a fan), she was addressing kids - through their parents - about how they can do hard things, too! Telling them, she knows it's hard to be home all day, and not be able to play with friends, and be homeschooled, and and and. Then she started talking about how it's hard to deal with feelings that come up and how it's hard to feel them, and deal with them, or try to figure them out. So she started to talk about creative ways they can release some of their emotions and refereed to a page she created for them to color. Then she asked them to make this page a piece of art, because "art is just showing your insides on the outside." A phrase so simple but so thoughtful I'll never forget it. She made sure to mention that they don't have to stay in the lines, and to use whatever you want - crayons, marker, glitter, paint - whatever expresses the feelings the most. 

So lately, as a mother of a 3 1/2-year-old, I'm always up for a free coloring page, so I downloaded it and printed two copies. One for her, one for me. I passed the assignment on to my very eager daughter, and she begins to color with her favorite colors of the moment. I quickly just grab whatever colored pencil is lying next to me and start to fill in the words.

At this point, I don't know if we'll be coloring for 5 seconds or 20 minutes, so I'm not getting too attached at this point. It wasn't until I started the background that the whole meaning behind this project began to sink in. 

Quarantine has been challenging for all of us, but in so many different ways - and no one is probably dealing with the exact same challenges that you are. Not to mention SO MANY feelings that come along with them. You might not even know what to call some of the emotions you're experiencing. They might not have a name- I realized a lot of my feelings don't - but even if I couldn't give them a name, I could give them each a color on this page. As the background started to fill in, I realized that each swirly part shared a lot of the same colors, but they each looked totally different. Just like our days may "look" the same at first, but the emotions we experience within each of our days can be completely different. Some may have more yellow, some more blue, some have a little purple, and maybe even lime green somewhere. And guess what - those "color feelings" - or whatever they are, are all okay! There is no right or wrong way to feel right now. You can feel everything or nothing, and it will probably change 5 million times a day, and that's okay! Let yourself feel all of it. 

The only catch with allowing yourself to feel all of your feelings is that IT. IS. HARD. But that's okay too because just remember... we can do hard things. 

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